Sony still losing money

[_Ray]

Well, for all those who have gone out to buy the new PS3 Slim, you'll see that it is clearly a very light, efficient variant of the original PS3.

Marketed at $299 USD, it appears that even though their manufacturing costs are roughly half of what they used to be, Sony if still seeing a loss of nearly $38 dollars for every PS3 Slim they sell.

Looks as if what you're getting in that box is still a pretty sweet deal.

Source

[Ivan]

I knew a dude that actually explained to me how they were profiting despite those differences between the manufacturing costs and the actual cost of the console but I forgot

Anyway, they must be making or know that they'll be making some sort of profit, or else they would drop the PS3.

[_Ray]

I knew a dude that actually explained to me how they were profiting despite those differences between the manufacturing costs and the actual cost of the console but I forgot

Anyway, they must be making or know that they'll be making some sort of profit, or else they would drop the PS3.

They anticipate that within 9 months they'll start profiting from software and from manufacturing costs that keep dropping.

[Chris]

It's actually amazing how well (relatively speaking) Sony are doing if they really are making huge losses like that on every console sold.

[Spaz The Great]

Well, for all those who have gone out to buy the new PS3 Slim, you'll see that it is clearly a very light, efficient variant of the original PS3.

Marketed at $299 USD, it appears that even though their manufacturing costs are roughly half of what they used to be, Sony if still seeing a loss of nearly $38 dollars for every PS3 Slim they sell.

Looks as if what you're getting in that box is still a pretty sweet deal.

Source

It's common to lose money on hardware, that's why they try to push the software as much as possible. Sony in particular was losing money on the original PS3, and the PSP. They are probably seeing a loss on the PSP Go, too.

[Mpilk901]

Yeah they are still losing money and it makes sense because the unit cost for a PS3 is still really high. However if you can push your software hard enough then it shouldn't matter as you'll be making a profit anyway. It's the only way they can sell more PS3's by reducing the price and it's worked tremendously for them so far. It's just something that Sony will have to keep in mind (and that they have) throughout the PS3's lifespan.

[The Bossman]

It's going to be hard for them, for the next 6 months or so. Profits in all other areas are struggling, the PS3 is one of their major selling points now. If they're still losing money on their current most profitable product, then that's not very good at all. I presume they'll pull through, most companies do.

[macorules94]

How are they losing money? The Ps3 is the sexiest machine ever made, and if people are stupid enough to buy a 360 instead then thats their problem

[_Ray]

How are they losing money? The Ps3 is the sexiest machine ever made, and if people are stupid enough to buy a 360 instead then thats their problem

Because it costs $338 to manufacture a PS3, but they only sell them for $299. (USD)

[macorules94]

LOL haha, seriously? Then why don't they sell them for $349, then they can make a little bit of a profit.

[MrLlamaLlama]

Because then far less people will buy them, so they'd make less return in the long run. I'm quite sure they would've considered selling them higher, but it's just not commercially feasible.

[Spaz The Great]

How are they losing money? The Ps3 is the sexiest machine ever made, and if people are stupid enough to buy a 360 instead then thats their problem

Because a lot of people aren't riding Sony's genitals, and so they base their decision on their needs and wants, not "the sexiest machine ever made". It isn't that they aren't selling, it's that they can't sell them for a profit or no one would buy them.

LOL haha, seriously? Then why don't they sell them for $349, then they can make a little bit of a profit.

Because people might not buy them at that price. If they cut the price, they have very good reason for cutting the price. They don't do it just because they are bored.

[Trickstar]

You know, almost all my life I've always been a Play Station guy starting with the original PSX. Like during the PS2/xBox era, I only played PS2 and said xBox sucks, but now the only Play Station systems I am going to know I am going to have, at least until the next video game generation, is the PS2 and PSP. For now I think xBox 360 and PC is taking over, meaning Microsoft is starting to not only monopolize the computer business, but also video games.

[Bulletproofboy]

Why would you say something sucks when you have not played it?

[BlackListedB]

I sold mine during the recession, a refurbed 60Gig, keeping the drive for future use, hoping to save the stored content, if I got a slim model I am sure it would not work, but I figure another old 60G model might accept the previous formatting when booting, but people say it won't work without formatting anew each time. Recent news has it that Sony intents to compete with Nintendo's Wii market with their new controller, so we shall see if they can handle that fight well enough. One member of another site suggests a new PSP from Sony, and I'd like to see one with a much better screen, it's the biggest gripe I have about the PSP is the screen somewhat hurts the eye with it's ghosting and low light, slowness response, etc.

[Sherman]

Like someone said earlier, if there was no profitability in the PS3 market (hardware, software, controllers, etc.) then none of it would even be manufactured. I'm sure their financial dept. knows exactly what they're doing.

[Gerard]

Sony wants everyone to have a PS3, so that they'll buy Sony-licenced games ($$$) and official Sony accessories ($$$). Most will only have one console, so Sony want it to be theirs rather than an Xbox (causing Microsoft to miss out). And when the next generation comes out, they'll probably opt for PS4 rather than Xbox 3.

Once they have the PS3 in their home, everything else will naturally come. The battle is won for them, and lots of monies will be coming their way. That's worth $38 per person to them.

[The Bossman]

To be fair that's basically the mindset of all 3 current gen companies, especially Nintendo with their 3rd party junk. If Sony think they can grab some of the Wiis marketplace with their controller then they need excellent games to be compatible, and I'm not seeing it yet.